Characterization of gastric cells infection by diverse Helicobacter pylori strains through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

The infection of Helicobacter pylori, covering 50% of the world-population, leads to diverse gastric diseases as ulcers and cancer along the life-time of the human host. To promote the discovery of biomarkers of bacterial infection, in the present work, Fourier-transform infrared spectra were acquired from adenocarcinoma gastric cells, incubated with H. pylori strains presenting different genotypes concerning the virulent factors cytotoxin associated gene A and vacuolating cytotoxin A. Defined absorbance ratios were evaluated by diverse methods of statistical inference, according to the fulfillment of the tests assumptions. It was possible to define from the gastric cells, diverse absorbance ratios enabling to discriminate: i) The infection; ii) the bacteria genotype; and iii) the gastric disease of the patients from which the bacteria were isolated. These biomarkers could fasten the knowledge of the complex infection process while promoting a platform for a new diagnostic method, rapid but also specific and sensitive towards the diagnosis of both infection and bacterial virulence.

Respiratory alterations in workers: study of single ports. / Alterações respiratórias em trabalhadores: estudo de portuários avulsos.

OBJECTIVE: To identify alterations in the respiratory system in port workers through radiographic and pulmonary function tests; to identify the use of personal protective equipment during port activities; and to relate age, working time, exposure to substances such as fertilizers and the use of personal protective equipment during port activities, to changes in the respiratory system in port workers. METHOD: Descriptive and exploratory study, in south Brazilian maritime port, from July of 2014 to January of 2015. A retrospective quantitative analysis of the results of chest x-ray and spirometry of 695 port workers' chart and prospective analysis of 66 workers were performed. RESULTS: Most of the workers did not present radiographs 98.7% and 11.4% presented ventilatory alterations. A positive correlation was identified for the variables age, working time and spirometry results. CONCLUSION: There was a change in the respiratory function of single port workers, which may be related to the exposure to fertilizers.

Riscos físico, químico e biológico em portuários e potencialidades para alterações respiratórias / Physical, chemical and biological hazards to port workers and their potential to cause respiratory disorders* / Riesgos físico, químico y biológico en portuarios; y potencialidades de alteraciones respiratorias

Objetivou-se identificar as fontes de exposição dos trabalhadores portuários avulsos aos riscos químico, físico e biológico no ambiente laboral, com potenciais para alterações da função respiratória. Estudo de caráter quantitativo, exploratório, com técnica observacional não-participante e direta de trabalhadores de um porto naval do sul brasileiro. A coleta de dados ocorreu de julho a dezembro de 2014, sendo realizadas 87 observações de 66 trabalhadores. Realizou-se análise descritiva dos dados, por meio de frequência absoluta e percentual. As fontes predominantes de exposição ao risco físico foram frio, umidade e radiação não ionizante. As fontes de exposição ao risco químico decorreram da movimentação de grãos, fertilizantes e gases combustíveis, e o risco biológico observado foi a presença de pombos. O trabalhador portuário está exposto a fontes de riscos ocupacionais à saúde respiratória que variam conforme as cargas, atividades laborais e locais de trabalho (AU).

The present study aimed to identify the sources of chemical, physical and biological hazards to which temporary port workers are exposed in the work environment, which may cause respiratory disorders. Quantitative and exploratory study with direct nonparticipant observation of workers from a maritime port in Southern Brazil. Data was collected from July to December 2014, and 87 observations of 66 workers were made. Descriptive statistics was performed with absolute and relative frequencies (percentage). The predominant sources of physical hazards were cold, moisture and non-ionizing radiation. The sources of chemical hazard were associated with the handling of grains, fertilizers and combustible gases, and the biological hazard observed was the presence of pigeons. Port workers are exposed to occupational hazards that pose respiratory health risks, depending on the type of cargo, activities and workplace (AU).

Se objetivó identificar las fuentes de exposición de trabajadores portuarios expuestos a riesgos químico, físico y biológico en su ámbito laboral, con potenciales de alteración de la función respiratoria. Estudio cuantitativo, exploratorio, aplicando técnica observacional no participante y directa de trabajadores de un puerto naval del sur brasileño. Datos recolectados de julio a diciembre de 2014, habiendo sido realizadas 87 observaciones de 66 trabajadores. Se realizó análisis descriptivo de los datos, mediante frecuencia absoluta y porcentual. Las fuentes predominantes de exposición al riesgo físico fueron: frío, humedad y radiación no ionizante. Las fuentes de exposición al riesgo químico derivaron del traslado de granos, fertilizantes y gases combustibles; y el riesgo biológico observado fue la presencia de palomas. El trabajador portuario está expuesto a fuentes de riesgos laborales para su salud respiratoria, los cuales varían en función de las cargas, actividades laborales y lugares de trabajo (AU).

Alterações respiratórias em trabalhadores: estudo de portuários avulsos / Alteraciones respiratorias en trabajadores: estudio de puertos independientes / Respiratory alterations in workers: study of single ports

Resumo OBJETIVO Identificar alterações no sistema respiratório em trabalhadores portuários por meio de exames radiográficos e de função pulmonar; identificar o uso de equipamentos de proteção individual durante as atividades portuárias; e relacionar a idade, tempo de trabalho, exposição a substâncias como os fertilizantes e uso de equipamentos de proteção individual, durante as atividades portuárias, às alterações no sistema respiratório em trabalhadores portuários. MÉTODO Descritivo e exploratório em um porto marítimo sul brasileiro, de julho de 2014 a janeiro de 2015. Realizou-se análise retrospectiva, quantitativo do resultado da radiografia de tórax e espirometria de 695 prontuários de trabalhadores e análise prospectiva de 66 trabalhadores. RESULTADOS a maioria dos trabalhadores não apresentou alterações radiográficas 98,7% e 11,4% apresentaram alterações ventilatórias. Identificou-se correlação positiva para as variáveis, idade, tempo de trabalho e resultado da espirometria. CONCLUSÃO Houve alteração da função respiratória de trabalhadores portuários avulsos, que pode estar relacionada à exposição aos fertilizantes.

RESUMEN OBJETIVO Identificar alteraciones en el sistema respiratorio en trabajadores portuarios por medio de exámenes radiográficos y de función pulmonar; identificar el uso de equipos de protección individual durante las actividades portuarias; y relacionar la edad, el tiempo de trabajo, la exposición a sustancias como los fertilizantes y el uso de equipos de protección individual, durante las actividades portuarias, a las alteraciones en el sistema respiratorio en trabajadores portuarios. MÉTODO Descriptivo y exploratorio, realizado en un puerto maritmo sur brasileño, de julio de 2014 a enero de 2015. Realizó un análisis retrospectivo, cuantitativo de la radiografía de tórax y la espirometría 695 registros de los trabajadores del puerto y la realización de análisis prospectivo de 66 trabajadores. RESULTADOS la mayoría de los trabajadores no se muestran las radiografías 98,7% y el 11,4% mostraron cambios ventilatorios. Se identificó una correlación positiva para las variables, la edad, el tiempo de trabajo y espirometría. CONCLUSIÓN Hubo un cambio de la función respiratoria de los estibadores temporales, que se puede asociar con un tratamiento de fertilizantes.

Abstract OBJECTIVE To identify alterations in the respiratory system in port workers through radiographic and pulmonary function tests; to identify the use of personal protective equipment during port activities; and to relate age, working time, exposure to substances such as fertilizers and the use of personal protective equipment during port activities, to changes in the respiratory system in port workers. METHOD Descriptive and exploratory study, in south Brazilian maritime port, from July of 2014 to January of 2015. A retrospective quantitative analysis of the results of chest x-ray and spirometry of 695 port workers' chart and prospective analysis of 66 workers were performed. RESULTS Most of the workers did not present radiographs 98.7% and 11.4% presented ventilatory alterations. A positive correlation was identified for the variables age, working time and spirometry results. CONCLUSION There was a change in the respiratory function of single port workers, which may be related to the exposure to fertilizers.

Occupational health nurses: interdisciplinary experience in occupational health. / Enfermeiros do trabalho: experiência interdisciplinar em saúde do trabalhador.

OBJECTIVE:: to analyze the relationship of occupational health nurses with the other members of the Specialized Service in Safety Engineering and Occupational Medicine (SESMT) and characterize joint actions of these professionals in occupational health. METHOD:: qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study with 34 professionals of seven companies from the South Macroregion of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Interviews and observations were conducted for content analysis of Bardin. RESULTS:: the SESMTs are multidisciplinary and intersectoral workers. Nurses have working relations of an interpersonal, technical/legal, and management of logistics/organizational nature, influenced by the technical division of work and by the division in the work environment of the staff, which distances areas, generates conflicts, and fragments the actions of the service. CONCLUSION:: SESMT faces challenges to develop a work befitting their legal objectives, once staff and companies need to understand the importance of interdisciplinarity for the success of actions on the workers' health and safety.

Enfermeiros do trabalho: experiência interdisciplinar em saúde do trabalhador / Enfermeros del trabajo: experiencia interdisciplinaria en salud ocupacional / Occupational health nurses: interdisciplinary experience in occupational health

RESUMO Objetivo: analisar a relação profissional dos enfermeiros do trabalho com os demais integrantes do Serviço Especializado em Engenharia de Segurança e em Medicina do Trabalho (SESMT) e caracterizar ações conjuntas desses profissionais em saúde do trabalhador. Método: qualitativo, exploratório e descritivo, com 34 profissionais de sete empresas da Macrorregião Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. Realizadas entrevistas e observações para Análise de Conteúdo de Bardin. Resultados: os SESMTs são multiprofissionais e intersetoriais. Os enfermeiros possuem relações de trabalho de natureza interpessoal, técnica/jurídica, de gestão e logística/organizacional, influenciadas pela divisão tanto técnica do trabalho quanto do próprio ambiente de trabalho da equipe, o que distancia áreas, gera conflitos e fragmenta as ações do serviço. Conclusão: há desafios para que o SESMT desenvolva um trabalho condizente com os seus objetivos legais, uma vez que equipe e empresas precisam compreender a importância da interdisciplinaridade para o sucesso das ações na atenção à saúde e segurança do trabalhador.

RESUMEN Objetivo: analizar la relación profesional de los enfermeros del trabajo con otros miembros del Servicio Especializado en Ingeniería de Seguridad y Medicina del Trabajo (SESMT) y caracterizar las acciones conjuntas de estos profesionales de la salud ocupacional. Método: estudio cualitativo, exploratorio y descriptivo con 34 profesionales de siete empresas de la Macro Región Sur, estado de Rio Grande do Sul. Se realizaron entrevistas y observaciones para análisis de contenido de Bardin. Resultados: los SESMT son multidisciplinarios e intersectoriales. Los enfermeros tienen relaciones de trabajo de naturaleza interpersonal, técnica/legal, de gestión y logística/organizacional influenciados por la divisióntécnica del trabajo y el propio entorno de trabajo en equipo, lo quecrea distanciaentre las zonas,conflictos y fragmenta las acciones del servicio. Conclusión: existen desafíos para el SESMT desarrollar un trabajo consistente con sus objetivos legales, pues el personal y las empresas necesitan entender la importancia de la interdisciplinariedad para el éxito de las acciones de atención de salud y seguridad del trabajador.

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the relationship of occupational health nurses with the other members of the Specialized Service in Safety Engineering and Occupational Medicine (SESMT) and characterize joint actions of these professionals in occupational health. Method: qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study with 34 professionals of seven companies from the South Macroregion of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Interviews and observations were conducted for content analysis of Bardin. Results: the SESMTs are multidisciplinary and intersectoral workers. Nurses have working relations of an interpersonal, technical/legal, and management of logistics/organizational nature, influenced by the technical division of work and by the division in the work environment of the staff, which distances areas, generates conflicts, and fragments the actions of the service. Conclusion: SESMT faces challenges to develop a work befitting their legal objectives, once staff and companies need to understand the importance of interdisciplinarity for the success of actions on the workers' health and safety.

Development of synthetic light-chain antibodies as novel and potent HIV fusion inhibitors.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a novel and potent fusion inhibitor of HIV infection based on a rational strategy for synthetic antibody library construction. DESIGN: The reduced molecular weight of single-domain antibodies (sdAbs) allows targeting of cryptic epitopes, the most conserved and critical ones in the context of HIV entry. Heavy-chain sdAbs from camelids are particularly suited for this type of epitope recognition because of the presence of long and flexible antigen-binding regions [complementary-determining regions (CDRs)]. METHODS: We translated camelid CDR features to a rabbit light-chain variable domain (VL) and constructed a library of minimal antibody fragments with elongated CDRs. Additionally to elongation, CDRs' variability was restricted to binding favorable amino acids to potentiate the selection of high-affinity sdAbs. The synthetic library was screened against a conserved, hidden, and crucial-to-fusion sequence on the heptad-repeat 1 (HR1) region of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein. RESULTS: Two anti-HR1 VLs, named F63 and D104, strongly inhibited laboratory-adapted HIV-1 infectivity. F63 also inhibited infectivity of HIV-1 and HIV-2 primary isolates similarly to the Food and Drug Administration-approved fusion inhibitor T-20 and HIV-1 strains resistant to T-20. Moreover, epitope mapping of F63 revealed a novel target sequence within the highly conserved hydrophobic pocket of HR1. F63 was also capable of interacting with viral and cell lipid membrane models, a property previously associated with T-20's inhibitory mechanism. CONCLUSION: In summary, to our best knowledge, we developed the first potent and broad VL sdAb fusion inhibitor of HIV infection. Our study also gives insights into engineering strategies that could be explored to enhance the development of antiviral drugs.

A comprehensive high-throughput FTIR spectroscopy-based method for evaluating the transfection event: estimating the transfection efficiency and extracting associated metabolic responses.

Reporter genes are routinely used in every laboratory for molecular and cellular biology for studying heterologous gene expression and general cellular biological mechanisms, such as transfection processes. Although well characterized and broadly implemented, reporter genes present serious limitations, either by involving time-consuming procedures or by presenting possible side effects on the expression of the heterologous gene or even in the general cellular metabolism. Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy was evaluated to simultaneously analyze in a rapid (minutes) and high-throughput mode (using 96-wells microplates), the transfection efficiency, and the effect of the transfection process on the host cell biochemical composition and metabolism. Semi-adherent HEK and adherent AGS cell lines, transfected with the plasmid pVAX-GFP using Lipofectamine, were used as model systems. Good partial least squares (PLS) models were built to estimate the transfection efficiency, either considering each cell line independently (R (2) ≥ 0.92; RMSECV ≤ 2 %) or simultaneously considering both cell lines (R (2) = 0.90; RMSECV = 2 %). Additionally, the effect of the transfection process on the HEK cell biochemical and metabolic features could be evaluated directly from the FT-IR spectra. Due to the high sensitivity of the technique, it was also possible to discriminate the effect of the transfection process from the transfection reagent on KEK cells, e.g., by the analysis of spectral biomarkers and biochemical and metabolic features. The present results are far beyond what any reporter gene assay or other specific probe can offer for these purposes.

Prevalência de sinais e sintomas digestórios em trabalhadoras rurais e fatores associados / Prevalence of digestive signs and symptoms and associated factors among rural workers

Objetivo: Conhecer a prevalência de sinais e sintomas digestórios em trabalhadoras rurais e identificar fatores associados mais frequentes. Métodos Estudo transversal que incluiu 182 trabalhadoras rurais maiores de 18 anos e de agricultura de hortifrutigranjeiros. Para avaliar a consistência interna dos dados utilizou-se o coeficiente alfa de Cronbach. Para comparar médias entre os grupos, o teste t de Student foi aplicado para amostras independentes. Em caso de assimetria, foi utilizado o teste de Mann-Whitney. Resultados A prevalência de sinais e sintomas digestórios relatados foi 31,9%. Os sinais e sintomas digestórios relatados foram: dor epigástrica (27,4%), regurgitação (18,1%), inchaço (9,9%), náusea (9,9%) e vômitos (6,0%). Conclusão A prevalência de sinais e sintomas digestórios relatados por trabalhadoras rurais foi alto e esteve associado a idade maior de 60 anos, utilização de pesticidas agrícolas e ascendência italiana.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of digestive signs and symptoms in rural workers and identify frequently associated factors. Methods This cross-sectional study included 182 rural and horticultural farm workers aged 18 years or older. To assess internal data consistency, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used. To compare means between groups, student’s t-test was used for independent samples. The Mann–Whitney test was used in cases of asymmetry. Results The prevalence of digestive signs and symptoms was 31.9%. The signs and symptoms included epigastric pain (27.4%), regurgitation (18.1%), bloating (9.9%), nausea (9.9%), and vomiting (6.0%). Conclusion The prevalence of digestive signs and symptoms reported by rural workers was high and was associated with being older than 60 years, using agricultural pesticides, and being of Italian descent.

Percepção de risco de aprendizes de solda: avaliação antes e depois de intervenção de enfermagem / Risk perception of apprentice welders: an assessment before and after a nursing intervention / Percepción del riesgo en aprendices de soldadura: evaluación antes y después de intervención de enfermería

Objetivo: avaliar a percepção de aprendizes de solda sobre os riscos físicos, químicos e fisiológicos, antes e depois de intervenção de enfermagem. Método: estudo quantitativo, do tipo antes e depois, realizado com 86 aprendizes de solda. A coleta de dados ocorreu antes e depois de intervenção de enfermagem. Realizou-se análise descritiva e inferencial. O projeto de pesquisa foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa, Protocolo nº 40/2010. Resultados: houve aumento, na comparação antes e depois, das médias da intervenção de enfermagem para todos os riscos, o que indica aumento da percepção dos aprendizes após o conteúdo comunicado. Os riscos fisiológicos foram diferentes estaticamente (p = 0,026). Conclusão: a comunicação de risco desenvolvida por meio da intervenção de enfermagem pode modificar a percepção do risco, o que contribuirá para que, de forma consciente, os aprendizes de solda possam evitar danos a sua saúde.(AU)

Objective: to assess the perception of apprentice welders regarding physical, chemical and physiological risks before and after a nursing intervention. Method: this was a quantitative study with a before and after design, conducted with 86 apprentice welders. Data were collected before and after a nursing intervention. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was carried out. The study was approved by the institution's research ethics committee, as per protocol no. 40/2010. Results: the mean value for all risks was higher after the intervention than before, which indicates an increase in the perception of the apprentices once the content was shared. Physiological risks presented a statistical difference (p=0.026). Conclusion: risk communication developed through the nursing intervention can change risk perception, which can help apprentice welders be more aware of and avoid damages to health.(AU)

Objetivo: evaluar la percepción de aprendices de soldadura sobre los riesgos físicos, químicos y fisiológicos antes y después de intervención de enfermería. Método: estudio cuantitativo del tipo antes y después de intervención de enfermería, con 86 aprendices de soldadura. Se realizó análisis descriptivo e inferencial. El Proyecto de investigación fue aprobado por el Comité de Ética en Investigación, Protocolo nº 40/2010. Resultados: Existió aumento en la comparación antes y después de la intervención de enfermería en los promedios para todos los riesgos, lo cual indica mayor percepción del riesgo por parte de los aprendices luego de habérseles impartido los conocimientos. Los riesgos fisiológicos fueron diferentes estadísticamente (p=0,026). Conclusión: la comunicación de riesgo desarrollada mediante la intervención de enfermería puede modificar la percepción del riesgo, lo que contribuirá a que, de forma consciente, los aprendices de soldadura puedan evitar daños a su salud.(AU)